The petition states: "USCA has learned that some major U.S. meatpackers and companies in other countries are heavily investing in creating alternative products that may resemble in appearance and taste beef products, including synthetic 'beef' and 'beef' grown in laboratories using animal cells, known as 'in vitro' meat, 'bio meat,' 'clean meat,' or 'cultured meat.' Such products, which are not derived from animals born, raised, and harvested in the traditional manner, should not be permitted to be marketed as 'beef,' or more broadly as 'meat' products."

The petition also presents issue with the Federal Trade Commissions' inconsistent enforcement of "truth in advertising" standards for food products. Expanding on this contention, the document specifically cites the 2015 warning that the FDA issued against Hampton Creek Foods (now JUST) for its usage of a cracked egg illustration on its vegan mayonnaise packaging. Ultimately, the FDA required the company to state its "egg-free" contents via larger font type on its packaging.

The Impossible Burger by Silicon Valley's Impossible Foods is a plant-based burger that mimics the sensory experience of a meat burger through the isolation of overlapping properties found in plants. (Credit: Impossible Foods / Christina Troitino)Christina Troitino

Seemingly parallel to this petition is the "Defending Against Imitations and Replacements of Yogurt, Milk, and Cheese To Promote Regular Intake of Dairy Everyday Act" (also more colloquially referred to as the DAIRY PRIDE Act). Led by Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin and backed by members of the domestic dairy industry, this act similarly aims to standardize the legal definition of "milk" so that it may only appear on the labels of products "obtained by the complete milking of one or more hooved mammals." The Dairy Pride Act also cites issue with the consumer confusion generated by loosely regulated terms, but also seeks to preserve the nutritional standards associated historically with milk.

Concerned about how the act will impact the health of the dairy alternatives industry, representatives from dairy alternatives producers including MALK, Oatly and Good Karma Foods have recently contested the Dairy Pride Act in Washington D.C.

An identification tag is attached to a cow's ear at a dairy farm. Photographer: Christinne Muschi/Bloomberg

While still maintaining a minority share of the market, plant-based food products are seeing increasing demand. Milk alternatives achieved global sales of $5.8 billion in 2014 and are predicted to reach $10.9 billion by 2019, representing a 13.3% CAGR. In contrast, traditional (animal) milk sales are predicted to decrease to $15.9 billion, representing an 11% drop between 2015 and 2020. Moreover, US retail sales of meat substitutes increased 16% to $700 million in 2016. Although bullish, this pales in comparison to the billions brought in annually from traditional meat sales.

Plant-based beverage company Ripple Foods closed their Series C round, gaining $65 million in funding.Ripple Foods

Moreover, investors have started placing bets on the future of the animal-alternative products. Most recently, pea milk maker Ripple Foods raised a $65 million Series C round alongside plant-based meat company Beyond Meat's $55 million round secured in December 2017 through investors including meat powerhouse Tyson Foods.

At this rate of investment and emergent changes in consumer preferences, the industry tension seems likely to persist. Regardless of outcome, we are on the brink of a powerful sea change to how regulators view animal agriculture.

I am a food and agriculture business writer. My work has been featured in Mashable, The A.V. Club, Culinary Institute of America, SF Chronicle, Yahoo, The Huffington Post and more. I am a MasterChef Top 100 finalist. I created food site Pâté Smith, as well as run music news ...